Concert-Stream with Leonidas Kavakos, Gautier Capuçon, Valery Gergiev and Münchner Philharmoniker (January 2021)

The year 2021 started for Leonidas Kavakos with a concert with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra under Valery Gergiev and Gautier Capuçon, which is now available as a video stream at www.mphil.de/stream from 23 January (7 p.m.) to 30 January (7 p.m.).

The concert will feature the Concerto for Violin, Violoncello and Orchestra in A minor, op. 102, and the Symphony No. 3 in F major, op. 90, by Johannes Brahms.

Omer Meir Wellber

Omer Meir Wellber celebrated the turn of the year from 2020 to 2021 with a special program at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo. “Last year we dedicated the New Year’s Eve concert to the many ethnic minorities in Palermo and their artistic and musical characteristics; this year we propose the theme of diversity of genres and genders, to make it a ground for musical confrontation, beyond any predictable certainty. “, Wellber describes the program of the evening, which included, among others, Neapolitan songs and works by Haydn, Wagner and Mozart, jazz songs and spoken texts by Eli Danker, as well as singing and scenic realization by Ernesto Tomasini, soprano Carmen Giannattasio and baritone Markus Werba. The innovative concert program can be viewed here:

On 26 January, Teatro Massimo opens the 2021 season with a special production with Omer Meir Wellber and Johannes Erath. With “Il crepuscolo dei sogni,” Wellber and Erath trace a dreamlike path between light and shadow, from Strauss’s “Traum durch die Dämmerung” to Schubert’s “Winterreise,” from the shadows of “Verleumdung” in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville and the ascent in Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov. In between, the gaze continually wanders from Italian to German and Russian opera, from the Baroque with Purcell and Monteverdi to the twentieth century with Bernstein and Korngold. More information can be found here.

In November 2020 Chandos released the first joint recording by Omer Meir Wellber and the BBC Philharmonic, “Music of Israel” with works by Ben-Haim. Another recording was released by Hyperion with Steven Isserlis and works by Tavener.

In addition, Wellber will become Musikdirektor of the Volksoper Wien when Lotte de Beer’s directorship begins on September 1, 2022. In addition to directing new productions and repertoire performances, he will be primarily responsible for the musical aspects of the house and the development of the ensemble, orchestra and chorus for five seasons. As early as spring 2021, he will help shape the preparations of the new management.

Jan Vogler

The renowned cellist and Intendant of the Dresden Music Festival Jan Vogler released his new album with SONY Classical in June 2020 – combining the cello concerto “Three Continents” by Nico Muhly (USA), Sven Helbig (D) and Zhou Long (CHN) and Shostakovich’s Second Cello Concerto, the recording features an exciting combination of musical tradition and innovative awakening.

To create new opportunities for artists during the global pandemic and at the same time technically develop the virtual concert experience, Jan Vogler developed the Dreamstage livestream platform together with Thomas Hesse and Scott Chasin. In August 2020, Jan Volger opened it with a concert featuring pianist Hélène Grimaud. In addition to enabling artists to organize virtual concerts on their own, what makes Dreamstage special is the contact between artists and viewers. Through interactive features such as a live chat and virtual applause, an exchange during the concert is possible. So far, Dreamstage has hosted concerts from a wide variety of genres, including classical, hip hop, country and world music.

On 23 January , Jan Vogler will join pianist Tiffany Poon for a concert of works by Bach and Beethoven at Dreamstage. Proceeds from the concert will be donated to the Associated Musicians of Greater New York Emergency Relief Fund.

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra / Manfred Honeck

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and its Music Director Manfred Honeck celebrate the orchestra’s 125^th anniversary with the release of a new recording with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Reference Recordings. The recording features soloists Christina Landshamer, Jennifer Johnson Cano, Werner Güra and Shenyang, and the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh.

On 27 February, the 125^th anniversary to the day of the very first concert of the Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony will present a digital 125^th Anniversary Celebration, with a variety of solo and chamber music performances by the Pittsburgh Symphony musicians, highlights of its 125-year history, and more. More information is available at www.pittsburghsymphony.org.

Midori

To mark Beethoven Year 2020, Warner Classics released a recording with Midori and the Festival Strings Lucerne performing Beethoven’s Violin Concerto and his two Romances for Violin and Orchestra. The recording was originally planned around a concert in Lucerne and subsequent concerts in the UK, Singapore, China and Korea – but due to the COVID-19 pandemic  all public events had to be cancelled. The concert in Lucerne was also affected by this, although rehearsals had already begun. Fortunately, the recording could still take place.

Midori also wishes a Happy New Year. She looks back on the past year in a child-friendly way and says thank you to everyone who made special contributions in 2020:

In recognition of her lifetime of artistic achievement, Midori will be honored as a Kennedy Center Honoree 2021. The award ceremony will be recorded in May and broadcast on the American network CBS on June 6 in a two-hour primetime special. For more information about the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., click here.

Met Stars Live in Concert

As part of the Met Stars Live in Concert series, soprano Sondra Radvanovsky and tenor Piotr Beczała will give a live stream concert from the historic Stadthalle in Wuppertal on Saturday, January 23, at 19:00 CET. The program of the evening, which was specially compiled by the two Met stars, will include well-known arias and duets, including works from operas they have sung on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera, such as Giordano’s Andrea Chénier, Verdi’s La Forza del Destino and Luisa Miller, as well as Dvořák’s Rusalka.